Another City Night
by Le Queen of Morons
Summary: You never know what you'll run into in the city. Luckily, the helpless have the most unexpected of guardians. A one-shot kiriban from DA.


Ninjas in Manhattan.

Really, that shouldn't surprise Allucia Banks. This _was_ New York, after all. You never knew what you'll run across in the Apple.

Of course, shouldn't rarely means didn't, and the last thing the punkish looking girl'd expect when blading home from her latest round of Roller Derby was to be lured into an alley by what sounded just like a crying child, and then surrounded by what looked like a band of ninjas straight out of a bad comic book.

They weren't attacking – yet. In fact, the shortest among them, who still towered over her by about three inches, took a step forward and held a gloved hand out to her. She couldn't see his eyes behind the unnerving bug-mesh protrusions from his mask, but she could feel him looking directly into her unnaturally bright gaze. "Join us, girl. We have need of your kind."

"My _kind_?" She was already angery, and his monotone words only irritated her further, "And just what kind is that?"

Before she could think to react, his fist impacted with her face. "Do not play with me, girl. You will not win."

The force drove her to a knee; the dark makeup lining her eyes ran in dark tracks down her cheeks with the involuntary tears from the sudden shock of impact. Gritting her teeth, she rose to her feet and shoved off the wall in an attempt to streak between two of the black-clad figures. "Lemme go! I ain't interested in joinin' whatever freakish gang yer a part of!"

The only response she got was a powerful kick to the ribs. Once again, she crashed to her knees on the disgusting pavement.

The leader stepped up in front of her, "Fooli-". His voice cut abruptly off when his head turned sharply to the left, and with a sickening crack, his body fell limply in front of her.

"Can't ya tell th' lady ain't interested?" A rough baritone rumbled from nowhere.

"H…hey?" She prodded the body, then recoiled at finding it lifeless, frightened gaze rising to the hulking figure now standing in front of her.

Although he stood in shadow, she could make out broad shoulders and an unnaturally rounded silhouette under the bulky clothing he wore. There was a frightening flash of light reflected off of unseen eyes under a dark hood, before it was matched by the dull gleam of what looked like long-pronged metal forks in gloved hands.

With a cry, she stumbled back, only to run clean into one of the fallen ninja's comrades. She had just enough sense to dodge to the side before he could get more than a glancing grip on her purple hair.

In a flash, she suddenly found a red-headed girl right around her age, clad in a very worn out sweatshirt and jeans, at her side, and the ninja flying back from – whatever it was the girl did. From what Lusha could make out, it only looked like she'd grabbed the guy's wrist, twisted somehow and turned with it.

She's _got_ to learn how to do that!

The skater attempted to stand, but doubled over at the sudden pain in her ribs and the throbbing ache in her head. Instead, she scooted against the wall of the alley and watched the oddly hunched man plowing his way through the ninjas with frightening abandon. Blood flew in his brutally graceful wake. Bodies fell when his terrifyingly powerful body passed.

The strange red-headed girl was successfully keeping stragglers away from the injured youth with a contrastingly smooth style. If the bigger forms hadn't been stumbling away from her, and the occasional wet crack of bone didn't assault her ears, Lusha would have sworn the girl was dancing instead of fighting.

Within minutes, the skirmish was over. The surviving attackers had taken their dead with them to – wherever it was they went.

Suddenly, the girl was kneeling in front of her, and she found herself staring into a set of bright green eyes as the girl examined her face.

The guy had stowed his weapons out of sight, and again was standing in the shadows, watching the girl warily. "Di, she ok?"

"Well, she's not dead yet." The teenager replied, "but I think it'd be a good idea to get her to the hospital."

"Yeah, hi." Suddenly, her bravado returned through the haze of pain and confusion which had held her in its foggy grip up until then. "I'm right here?"

The red-head blinked, then grinned sheepishly and held out a hand. "Sorry. I'm Diana, he's Raph. You gonna live?"

With a chagrined smirk, Lusha shook the hand – surprised to find thick callouses there. "Lusha. Yeah, I think so. Thanks for helping me with those…those…" She trailed off.

"Ninjas?" The rumbled voice from the shadows supplied.

"…yeah." Again, she made the mistake of attempting to stand. This time the shooting pain in her side was accompanied by a sickening sense of vertigo. "Shit…I think I…"

The last thing she saw before blackness overcame her was concerned green eyes, and an inhuman face several shades darker than the girl's gaze hovering over her as she slid towards the ground.

She wasn't sure of how long she'd been out, but when she came to, it was in the bright, sterile light of a hospital room. It wasn't long after her awakening that she had to go through the nightmare of talking to the cops and arguing her way into going home.

Apparently, she'd been mildly concussed, and had a grand total of three broken ribs. The combined pain of her injuries along with the shock of the odd fight had knocked her out. The cops told her that she'd been left in the doorway of the ER the night, not unlike a number of other recent cases.

The doctors had impressed upon her just how important it was she run straight to the hospital if she experienced any more dizziness or feinting.

She'd impressed upon them that she'd be just fine at home.

Lusha had finally made it to her place and fell back into her bed after popping a pain tablet. She had just closed her eyes when she felt someone watching her. Slowly sitting up, she peered towards her window.

The girl couldn't be sure of if it was just the pain meds or if he was really there, but she could have sworn that there was a huge, humanoid turtle in a red mask staring at her.

Unfocused eyes blinked, and when they opened again, he was gone.

Never a dull moment in New York.

* * *

**A DA kiriban for allucia. Allucia Banks is her girl, while Diana is mine. TMNT & Raph belong to Nickelodeon. This little story itself was cooked up by my warped little mind, though.**

**I've really gotta write more TMNT fics, one of these days.**


End file.
